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Dwindling cruise ship visits show city miscalculated

It’s time to call the port authority and some politicians to task - again.

There should be chastising for all who touted building a new $24-million cruise ship terminal would moor the city to economic prosperity.

Last week the Nanaimo Port Authority, no doubt as quietly as possible, announced there will only be two ships visiting this year. Fewer and fewer, instead of the promised more and more, since the terminal opened just three years ago.

Why not build? The cruise industry is only growing at a small rate. Well-ingrained Victoria and Vancouver are hard ports of call to break. Campbell River’s terminal, built for $20 million in 2007, grew cobwebs and moss a few years after opening. It has not seen a ship since 2009.

But regardless, in 2010 Nanaimo said the port’s projection within the next five years was to secure 25-30 large cruise calls per season, with 2,000 passengers and 900 crew spending $40-90 per call.

Yet again, trumped-up made-to-order studies and propaganda for taxpayer consumption – like the salesmen who boasted the Titanic was unsinkable.

Kevan ShawNanaimo

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